In the News

hey cincinnati, al riddick wants to help you become millionaires like he did

Al has some common sense tips to help you make yourself a millionaire, like he did. It involves strict budgeting and "making your money work for you." WCPO's Lucy May explains how Riddick and his wife eliminated debt and accumulated wealth.

Queen City Links, Inc. Promotes Financial Literacy

There was high praise for Al from participants of Queen City Links’ Parent University program. He broke down financial planning concepts in an “easy to understand way” and “made it fun”. Small changes can make a difference in becoming more financially stable.

Ohio-based Company is Ready to Make Sense of Their Dollars

Employees of Ohio Valley Residential Services learn techniques to enhance their financial fitness. They are centered on saving more, spending wisely and using more logic and less emotion with your money.

Unleashing the Millionaire Mind at Kent State University

Al talks cash flow (movement of money) and spending with students. Leaves them with the question “what system with money will you implement when you start making the big bucks?"

LIVING ON LESS

Thirty-eight-year-olds Al and Lesia Riddick of Fairfield Township, Ohio, have practiced disciplined money management since marrying in 2002. So, when their household income dropped from $225,000 to $104,625 after Al’s job loss in 2010, the couple quickly adjusted to bringing home less.

“We used to go out a couple of times a week, or leave the country three or four times a year. We had to back that down to two times a year, says Lesia, a business analyst at a consumer products company.

In 2007, the Riddicks finished paying off $150,000 in debt: the mortgage on their three-bedroom ranch and Lesia’s student and car loans. Since then, they’ve lived on 52% of their income, so when ... Read entire article

The Comprehensive Guide to an Early Retirement

Maybe you’ve always dreamed about retiring when you hit 60—or even before you get your AARP card at 50. Or perhaps you have watched the stock market climb for the past eight years in a row, with the S&P 500 index more than tripling since its 2009 low, and suddenly an early exit from the workplace seems as if it might realistically be within reach.

Grab this opportunity to think about what “early” and “retirement” mean to you—and set yourself on a path to bring that vision to life. Some successful early retirees who now blog about their experience prefer the term “financial independence” to “retirement”: The essence is that you, and not an employer, get to call the shots on how you spend your days. That might be a pleasant schedule of travel and community service or maybe working as hard as—or harder than—before on a new business venture you’ve always hoped to pursue. Read entire article

New Book, The Uncommon Millionaire, Makes Money Management Easy

Whenever financial fitness coach Al Riddick would deliver a workshop, presentation or speech, someone from the audience would always come up to him afterward and ask where they could buy his book.

But Riddick, the president of Cincinnati-based Game Time Budgeting, didn’t have a book available at the time. And when people kept asking him repeatedly about whether he had a book, Riddick eventually realized those people might be on to something.“I thought maybe my story was unique enough that it was worth sharing so that people could enrich their own lives,” Riddick, said with a laugh.

So in 2009, Riddick wrote the first words to a book that would eventually be titled, “The Uncommon Millionaire: Financial Success

Begins with Behavior.” He admits the writing process wasn’t easy, but the end result is 132 pages of sound, common-sense financial advice mixed with humor and anecdotes from his personal life and journey to becoming a millionaire.

Riddick worked in a North Carolina tobacco field as a child and the difficult manual labor inspired him early on to want a better life. Riddick said he began mowing lawns and washing cars to earn money to buy the school clothes his parents wouldn’t purchase. It was in these formative years that Riddick learned early lessons about money management and good financial behaviors.

“The book really focuses on how simple it is to implement behaviors with money that produce positive results,” said Riddick. “You have to give money, purpose, direction and an assignment or it will misbehave.”

Riddick established Game Time Budgeting in 2010 as a financial education firm that helps people develop the proper mindset to spend less so they can have more. Game Time Budgeting has worked with some top companies and colleges including Kroger, Toyota, Macy’s and the University of Cincinnati and has served over 5,000 people. In 2015, Game Time Budgeting received the Difference Maker Award, presented by Duke Energy Children’s Museum, in recognition of the difference being made in the lives of children in Greater Cincinnati.

Riddick, who used to have a job in corporate America, said teaching financial wellness is his passion and life purpose. He said when it comes to money “you don’t have to be very intelligent; it’s a matter of implementing the proper behaviors.”

Riddick’s book focuses on the importance of consistency in your financial behaviors, or in other words practicing the same good money habits over and over. One of the most important habits, he said, is living below your means.

“Many people live above their means, and others right up to it,” Riddick said. “We encourage people to try to live below their means in order to save more. It’s really about short-term pain for a long-term gain. We tend to overcomplicate money management, but it really isn’t that hard.”

So far, the book has received rave reviews. Mike Kelly, former Vice President of learning and development for Macy’s Credit and Customer Services called it a “great read.”

“This book will impact the lives of many people. I enjoyed Al’s transparent and conversational style while integrating humor throughout.”

Bill Bagley, CEO and personal advisor of Bagley Consulting, said, “Al Riddick provides valuable insights on how folks can better handle their financial challenges. And he does it with personal stories, mature insights, and a sense of humor. A great read…with excellent financial instruction.”

Riddick said the greatest feeling for him is helping people achieve their dreams by adding structure and systems to their financial lives.

“It’s the best thing to take an individual or a couple from a place of confusion, anxiety and sometimes depression, and by tweaking a few things financially, bring them to a place where they are happier and more productive at work and in college because they are not financially stressed,” he said.